Potsdam Giants

The Potsdam Giants was the Prussianinfantryregiment No 6, composed of taller-than-average soldiers. The regiment was founded in 1675 and dissolved in 1806 after the Prussian defeat against Napoleon. Throughout the reign of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (1688–1740) the unit was known as the "Potsdamer Riesengarde" ("giant guard of Potsdam") in German, but the Prussian population quickly nicknamed them the Lange Kerls ("long guys").

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The Regiment was founded with a strength of two battalions in 1675 as “Regiment Kurprinz” under the command of Prince Frederick of Brandenburg, the later King Frederick I of Prussia. In 1688 the later King Frederick William I of Prussia became the nominal Commander of the Regiment. After Frederick William I ascended to the throne in 1713, he proceeded strengthen his military, including hiring 40,000 mercenaries. He had already begun to recruit taller soldiers and needed several hundred more recruits each year.

As the number of tall soldiers increased, the regiment earned its nickname 'Potsdam Giants'. The original required height was 6 Prussian feet (about 6'2" or 1.88 meters),[1] well above average then and now. The king was about 1.6 meters himself.[2] He tried to obtain them by any means, including recruiting them from the armies of other countries. The Emperor of Austria, Russian TsarPeter the Great and even the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire sent him tall soldiers in order to encourage friendly relations. Several soldiers were given by Tsar Peter I as a gift in return for the famous Amber Room.[3] Pay was high but not all giants were content, especially if they were forcibly recruited, and some attempted desertion or suicide.

Although Prussia briefly intervened in the Great Northern War, the Potsdam Giants never saw battle during his reign. Some sources state that there was a military reason to create a regiment of "Long Guys" because loading a muzzleloader is easier to handle for a taller soldier.[4] Another source states that many of the men were unfit for combat due to their gigantism.[5]

The king trained and drilled his own regiment every day. He liked to paint their portraits from memory. He tried to show them to foreign visitors and dignitaries to impress them. At times he would try to cheer himself up by ordering them to march before him, even if he was in his sickbed. This procession, which included the entire regiment, was led by their mascot, a bear. He once confided to the French ambassador that "The most beautiful girl or woman in the world would be a matter of indifference to me, but tall soldiers—they are my weakness". Their uniform was not in any way idiosyncratic for the time, consisting of a red mitre, a Prussian blue jacket with gold lining, scarlet breeches and white gaiters.

One of the tallest soldiers, the Irishman James Kirkland, was reportedly 2.17 meters (just under 7 ft 2 in)[6] in height. Kirkland's fellow-Irishman, the poet Tomás Ó Caiside, also served in the regiment. Another member of the regiment was Daniel Cajanus.